(Credit: Pixabay)ETP BTCetc - ETC Group Physical Bitcoin (BTCE) will be the first Bitcoin ETP to go carbon neutral. ETC Group will offset the carbon footprint of BTCE, its flagship Bitcoin ETP, with carbon credits, compensating for the CO2 emissions associated with BTCE Bitcoin mining and transaction activities. These carbon credits will support projects curated and managed by some of the most respected climate and conservation groups in the world.
This latest innovation follows a series of other world firsts. BTCE rose to prominence when it became the first crypto ETP approved by the German regulator BaFin, and the world’s first centrally cleared crypto exchange traded product when it listed on Germany’s Deutsche Börse XETRA exchange in June 2020. BTCE is Europe’s most heavily traded physically backed Bitcoin ETP.
ETC Group will fund nature-based, carbon sequestration and renewable energy projects to offset all of its bitcoin-related Scope 3 emissions since the launch of BTCE, and will continue to do so on a quarterly basis. ETC Group also announced that it will join the Crypto Climate Accord, a group that actively seeks to move the entire crypto sector towards low carbon mining and operations, and net zero by 2040.
Carbon neutral bitcoin mining has become increasingly popular as bitcoin operations strive to become more sustainable. In March, Greenidge Generation Holdings announced that effective June 1, 2021, it will operate an entirely carbon neutral bitcoin mining operation at its facility in Upstate New York.
Greenidge will purchase voluntary carbon offsets from a portfolio of US greenhouse gas reduction projects. Each project has been reviewed and certified by one of three well-recognized Offset Project Registries, the American Carbon Registry (ACR), the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) and Verra, ensuring that any projects funded by Greenidge reduce emissions or increase sequestration of greenhouse gas in a manner that is real, permanent, and verifiable.
